Growing Up
by xThisGirlIsOnFirex
Summary: Santana is different but that's what Brittany likes about her. Santana has trouble with showing love and understanding emotion and the first time she actually ever said "I love you" to someone was to Brittany. Rated M for self harm/eating disorder and mild sex scenes.
1. Family Struggles

Chapter One: Family Struggles

"Hey Vicita, look at this!" Thirteen year old Santana Lopez raced towards a huge tree that stood nice and tall at the bottom of the field. Her six year old sister, Vicita didn't seem to be paying much attention and she just sat on the grass breaking up a tiny daisy that she had picked. "Mom, look at me!" Santana yelled and sat down on a lower branch of the tree, leaning against it. "Mature trees remove almost seventy times more pollution than a newly planted tree," she began to say, "That's quite a lot and one tree can absorb as much carbon in a year as a car produces whilst driving 26,000 miles."

"How do you know all that?" Aletta Lopez asked, walking towards her eldest child. "Clever girl, aren't you?"

"On the internet," Santana told her and climbed further up the tree. "This is an oak tree, you can tell by the leaves on it. Every tree has different leaves; oak trees have spirally arranged leaves or sometimes serrated leaves or entire leaves with smooth margins. The leaves on this oak tree are spirally arranged." Santana picked a leaf and held it out to her mother. "See?"

"I can't say I do sweetie," Aletta laughed and shook her head.

"Don't laugh at me," Santana said seriously, hanging her head. "It's not nice," she jumped down from the tree and ran back into their tiny, one storey house; the door slamming shut behind her. Aletta sighed and walked over to her youngest.

"Vicita, darling," she sat down on the grass next to her but Vicita paid no attention. "Shall we go back inside now and have something to eat?" Still nothing, "Come on sweetie; eat first and play after." Vicita knew what that meant as her mom had said it loads of times before to her. She screamed and dropped the flower that she was holding before standing up. Aletta took hold of her hand and led her into the house. Vicita screamed again, throwing herself on the floor. "No sweetie, come on," Aletta tried to lift her but the young girl just resisted. "Mommy's going to make you some lovely dinner, you'll like that. Why don't you paint me a nice picture? Paint mommy a nice picture." Aletta managed to get her to her feet but she just whimpered and stamped her foot. It was usually a sign to say no. "Yes," Aletta said and copied her daughter. She lifted her up and sat her down at the table where the paints were all set out ready. "You're going to do some lovely painting for me." More screaming.

"What's going on in here?" Jared chuckled as he entered the kitchen, "Hey kiddo; what's wrong?" Vicita immediately stopped screaming and got down from the table, running over to him. Jared had been Aletta's boyfriend for a couple of months now and he had quite a soft spot for Vicita. She liked him too.

"Thanks Jared," Aletta smiled, "Can you keep an eye on her for a second?" Jared nodded and took the youngster back over to the table. Aletta went along to Santana's bedroom and found her sitting on the floor painting one of her models. She loved models. Her room was full of ones that she'd been collecting since she was ten, from vehicles like cars and boats to houses and mini people. Each one came in a set with special paints and it kept Santana entertained for ages.

"Vicita was screaming for exactly five minutes and twenty one seconds," Santana said as she painted the face of her person. "That's quite a long time."

"I wouldn't say long," Aletta said and sat down beside Santana, making sure that she didn't knock any of the models over.

"One time she screamed for two hours and fifty five seconds; I was in bed at the time and it woke me up. I need some trees," Santana got up and stood her new model on the middle shelf by her bed. "This is our house and this person is Vicita. I haven't painted you and me yet and I'm not doing Jared because he doesn't live here but we have an oak tree by our house and I don't have one of them."

"We could look for one," Aletta suggested.

"No," Santana shook her head. "I searched it online; there are model trees but no model oak trees and it needs to be an oak tree."

"Maybe you can make one," Aletta said; sensing that she was getting stressed and upset. "You're a smart girl; I'm sure you can find something to make an oak tree out of." Santana nodded as she got out another model kit that she hadn't started yet. "How's Quinn?" Aletta asked as Santana sat back down on the floor and began to unpack her model kit. She didn't look her mom in the eyes once. "I haven't heard from her in a while."

"Quinn and Finn are going out," Santana said picking up a small model car and examining the red paint. "I don't get it."

"Get what?"

"Why do people go out with each other?" she shrugged her shoulders. "We have a red car but this sort of red is the wrong colour. It's darker, does that matter?" Santana got up again and headed over to her bookshelf. She found the book that she was looking for; a book on cars, and began flicking through it. "Here it is; the colour that our car is," she held the picture up for her mom to see. "Besides, I don't think my car is the right type that our car is. Our car is a Mercedes-Benz and this car in the book is a Volkswagen Beetle."

"I don't think that matters," Aletta said,

"Well," Santana sighed, "This colour is copacetic. That's another word for satisfactory."

"Good," Aletta smiled at her and nodded. "That's very good. Are you excited about high school? Quinn and Finn will be going there as well." Santana didn't answer her and continued to flick through the book on cars. "At least you'll know people, eh?" Aletta knew that when Santana started high school, she would have to get someone to help her during classes sometimes.

"Vicita's screaming again," Santana said as she continued to read her book. Aletta was silent and she could just about hear the sound of her daughter's screams coming from downstairs. Aletta got up from the floor and left the room. Leaving the door open, she headed downstairs.

"NO!" She heard Santana scream and suddenly her bedroom door slammed shut. She'd completely forgotten how leaving the doors open stressed her out. Smiling to herself, she went downstairs to see to Vicita.

**Hope you liked the story. I haven't actually mentioned what's wrong with Santana but I hope you can sort of guess. Anyway review and make me happy, reviews mean a lot so if you do like the story or do think of something that I could change or improve on then I would really appreciate it. Thank you, I will thank the reviewers in the next chapter. **


	2. McKinley High School

**nayalove: Thank you, it will be mentioned at some point but right now I'm getting people to guess, lol. Hope you like this chapter.**

**Boris Yeltsin: Thanks. **

Chapter Two: McKinley High School

"Thanks for giving me a ride to school Mrs Lopez," Quinn smiled as she sat in the back seat of the car with Santana. Although Quinn was her best friend, Santana wasn't really talking to her. She was sat beside her with her earphones in, singing quietly to herself and swinging her legs back and forth. Vicita was sat in the passenger seat repeating the same words over and over again; tree, fly, paint and sausage. Quinn couldn't help but smile. "I have to admit, I'm kind of nervous. High School is huge."

"You'll be fine," Aletta laughed as she pulled up outside McKinley. "Just keep together and look after her, won't you Quinn?" Quinn nodded and helped Santana with her seatbelt. She knew that she was probably fine with it on her own but she thought of Santana like a sister and sometimes, she became quite protective and couldn't help but treat Santana like she was two. "Good luck to you both; bye darling," she waved at Santana.

"Are you coming in mom?" Santana asked.

"Sorry princess but I need to drop Vicita off at her school, don't I?"

"I'm a princess," Santana beamed happily as she clambered out of the car. Aletta tried to kiss her but Santana wasn't having it and just climbed out of the car with Quinn.

"Quinn," Aletta called to the blonde. Quinn stopped Santana from walking off and peeped her head through the car window. "I have a letter about Santana," she dug into her pocket and pulled one out, flinching as Vicita began screaming her head off. She hated it when the car stopped moving so it was pretty hard when they had to stop at traffic lights. "Are you able to give it to the principal? I'll be picking her up after school so I can talk to him then, just explain that I need to drop her sister off but I asked you to give him this."

"No problem," Quinn nodded and took the letter from Aletta. The two girls waved goodbye and headed inside. Santana seemed slightly nervous and even though Quinn was as well, she tried not to show it for her friend.

"The doors are open," Santana said, cautiously eyeing up each open door.

"Yeah they need to be," Quinn said slowly. "Because people walk in and out of them, see?" She pointed to a girl who was walking out of one of the classrooms. "Don't worry about it sweetheart but you need to leave these doors open okay?" Santana didn't answer as she and Quinn kept walking down the corridor. "We're going to see the principal," Quinn said softly, knowing that this was out of the girls routine. "Look, his door is shut," Quinn said when they arrived. She knocked quietly on the door until someone welcomed them in. There was a man sitting at his desk, wearing a suit. "Principal..."

"Figgins, you must be two of the students starting at McKinley," Principal Figgins said as he typed away on his computer.

"Yeah I'm Quinn Fabray and this is my friend Santana Lopez," Quinn said, "Santana's mom just dropped us off but she had to go and drop her other daughter off at school so she said she'd talk to you when she picks Santana up later. She wanted me to give you this letter though." Quinn handed him the letter. Principal Figgins thanked her and opened it up. He read it over carefully whilst Santana looked round the office carefully, squinting at the brightness coming from the light.

"I see," he sighed once he'd finished reading the letter. "Well, I usually gather all the new students into the gymnasium first thing to talk about the school and tell them their timetables but if you and Santana would like to sit in an empty classroom and we can let you know the information afterwards. The Quiet Room is down the corridor and on your right, Room 4. It should be quiet enough." Quinn thanked him and led Santana out of the room, following the principal's instructions.

"Where are we going Quinn?" Santana asked when they reached the room. It was already unlocked so Quinn pushed the door open and led Santana inside, shutting the door behind her.

"Where do you want to sit?" Quinn asked. Santana sat herself down on a red chair at the end of the long table. The Quiet Room was nice. It was like a room in a Kindergarten class. Red, blue, green and yellow chairs were at the long table going down the middle of the room, yellow and red bean bags sat in the book corner and posters of self esteem and help were stuck up on the walls. Quinn found a cabinet that held coloured drawers and took some paper out of the purple tray. She took it over to Santana as well as some coloured pencils and sat down beside her.

"I've not seen Finn yet," Santana said as she picked up a green pencil and began drawing.

"He'll probably be in the gym with the other students," Quinn mentioned to her as she took a sheet of paper and began doodling herself. "We need to stay in here until Principal Figgins comes. Then he'll explain the school to us and our timetable."

"My old school had a room like this," Santana said. "It was bigger though." The door opened and a man walked in with a woman with red hair. He held a bright blue folder and shot the two girls a smile when he'd shut the door. "Who's that Quinn?"

"I am Mr Schuester but you can call me Mr Schue," the man introduced himself, "I'm the Spanish teacher at the school and I also run glee club. This is Miss Pillsbury, the guidance councillor. You can go to her if you have any problems at all. Santana Lopez?" Santana didn't look up from drawing.

"Her," Quinn said and pointed to the Latina, "I'm Quinn."

"Yes, Principal Figgins sent us," Mr Schue sat down in front of Santana and opened up the folder.

"I hate blue," Santana mumbled, noticing the colour of it.

"I quite like it," Mr Schue told her and took out two laminated sheets of paper. "Now I have your timetable Santana and I have yours as well Quinn. I made sure that you had most of the same classes with Santana. Now Santana, I have drawn a little star beside some classes that your mom had suggested you might need help in so that's Science, Gym, History and English. I will be teaching you Spanish so I'll be there if you do need help but I hear that you're fluent in the language. Now the first day is slightly different because for you don't do the first two classes."

"I did at my old school," Santana said.

"This is going to be slightly different Santana," Quinn exclaimed. "But you'll have the same routine starting from today and we'll try and help yeah? So until ten thirty, we will be in this room with Mr Schue and Miss Pillsbury and then we will have half an hour of recess. Then at eleven o'clock, we will have Spanish and then at eleven thirty, we will have Gym."

"Lunch is at twelve o'clock until one o'clock every day," Mr Schue continued. "Now the corridors, the lunch hall and the field can get quite crowded so if you'd like to keep an eye on her at breaks and lunch time?" Mr Schue asked Quinn who nodded. "She's welcome to use the library, the computer room or this room."

"I like computers," Santana told him, "I find out loads of interesting facts about trees on them. Did you know the world's tallest tree is called The Coast Redwood."

"No, I didn't know that," Mr Schue said."We do have a woman coming in called Paula who has worked with lots of different students before so we can start getting Santana used to her and on Friday afternoons, we have suggested that maybe me or another teacher take her out to the park or somewhere to practice some social skills."

"Yeah that sounds great," Quinn said.

"But I have math on Friday afternoons," Santana pointed out.

"You used to have math then, at your old school," Quinn reminded her. "But you're at high school now and things are going to be a little different for a while."

"Don't worry," Miss Pillsbury said, "We'll help you get used to it."


	3. The Start of Friendships

**Boris Yeltsin: Thanks for reviewing.**

**nayalove: Already replied to you in a PM but thanks for the help. **

**Just a note to say that they are thirteen going on fourteen at the moment. They're not sixteen yet. **

Chapter Three: The Start of Friendships 

It was Spanish class and seeing as it was the first day at high school, Mr Schue was just having them work in groups and make a poster on what they already know about Spanish. Quinn was working with Santana and she thought that being fluent in the language would help her focus but it didn't so she decided to make it a bit more fun for her. She was used to Santana so she kept her patience and worked well with her.

"I cut this out of a magazine," Quinn said as she stuck a picture of a tree down onto their poster. Mr Schue had left newspapers and magazines out in case the students did want to involve pictures in their poster. "Now, are you able to write the Spanish word for tree beside it, in your neatest handwriting?"

"Yeah," Santana nodded and took a purple pen to write with. "It isn't an oak tree."

"No, I couldn't find one of those," Quinn told her with a smile as she watched Santana write. Santana's handwriting was only usually neat when she took her time with it and wrote really slowly. Quinn knew that she wouldn't be able to do that every single lesson but now was an exception. "Well done," Quinn praised when Santana was eventually done.

"Hey," a boy came and sat down beside Santana. Santana said nothing but edged away from him. "I'm Kurt; Mr Schue said that I could work with you two."

"I'm Quinn," Quinn greeted, "This is Santana. Do you know any Spanish?" Kurt shook his head, "I don't know much. Santana's sort of the expert in that area, she's fluent in the language."

"Lucky," Kurt laughed. Santana's name was then called. She didn't answer though as she was too busy drawing a picture of a tree in the corner of the poster. "Santana, Mr Schue wants you." Kurt said.

"I got her Kurt," Mr Schue said coming over, "Santana, can you come outside with me please and do one to one?" Santana had always been good at responding to her name, unlike Vicita who didn't even recognise her name. She dropped her pen at once and followed him out of the room. "So, you like trees huh?" he asked as they made their way to The Quiet Room.

"Yeah," Santana nodded with a smile, "Oak trees are my favourite; we have an oak tree outside our house. Me and my sister climb it sometimes, well, I climb it sometimes. Vicita doesn't really." As soon as they walked in, Santana found the red chair and sat down on it. Mr Schue took out a purple tray and handed Santana a sheet. "It's a picture of a tree," Santana smiled when she saw what it was. "Can I colour it?"

"Later," he told her, "This is a change tree." He said and handed her a pen. "And in each leaf of the tree, I want you to write how you feel when things might suddenly change for you? Like what emotions would you feel, would you feel angry, sad, nervous?" Santana nodded and picked up a pen. She began to write the word angry in the first leaf, very slowly, being careful not to make any mistakes. Mr Schue watched and decided to give her time.

"So, will I have one to one at ten o'clock every day?" Santana questioned when she'd written her first word. Mr Schue looked up from sorting through the different worksheets and nodded, "Good," Santana smiled and moved onto the second leaf.

* * *

Quinn made sure to keep a close eye on Santana at lunch. In their old school they were always forced to wash their hands before going to lunch and Santana had been obsessing about that the entire time so Quinn took her to the closest girls bathroom first before making their way to the lunch hall.

"I'm not allowed chocolate or chips," Santana told Quinn when they were getting lunch. "Mom says it's unhealthy."

"Have an apple," Quinn smiled and handed her an apple. They found an empty table by the window and sat down. "You okay?" Quinn asked Santana.

"The chairs aren't red in here," Santana told her. "I always sit on a red chair."

"Sorry sweetie but we don't have red chairs in here," Quinn said in that comforting, motherly voice. Finn soon came to join them and sat next to Quinn. Santana watched with confusion as they kissed but she didn't say anything. They were soon joined by Kurt talking to a couple of girls. "Hey Kurt," Quinn said, remembering him from Spanish. "Who are you friends?"

"Rachel," Kurt introduced the brunette girl and turned to the tall blonde standing next to him. "And Brittany, can we join you?" Quinn nodded as they sat down opposite them. "This is Quinn and Santana." Kurt told the girls as Finn introduced himself as well. "So, do you like school so far?"

"Alright," Quinn shrugged, "Still trying to find our way around."

"Yeah, us too," Rachel laughed. Santana suddenly screamed loudly, grabbing Quinn's arm.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Quinn asked. "What's wrong?"

"The foods touching!" Santana screamed loudly and by now most people were beginning to stare. Quinn made whooshing sounds to calm her down as she sorted it out for Santana. Santana stopped screaming and watched Quinn separate the food.

"Better?" Quinn asked putting down the fork. Santana nodded. "No need to scream; it's okay." Quinn comforted to try and make her feel better.

"I don't like my food touching either," Brittany said to Santana as she sipped at her drink. "I wouldn't worry about it."

"Do you like trees?" Santana asked her as she stabbed at her plate with her fork. "Trees are the longest living organisms on Earth and there are over 23,000 different kinds in the world. Trees help the soil remain healthy by reducing soil erosion and by creating a soil climate suitable for microorganisms to grow. A tree can also absorb as much as 48 pounds of carbon dioxide per year and can sequester 1 ton of carbon dioxide by the time it reaches 40 years old." Quinn smiled at her as well as Finn.

"Strange, much? I had no idea what you just said." Rachel said raising an eyebrow. Santana hung her head and looked at the floor, sniffling.

"Well done," Quinn said sarcastically.

"I don't think you're strange," Brittany said to Santana. Santana kept looking at the floor but she stopped sniffing and a small smile was on her face. "Your tree facts are cool; I never knew that much about trees. What's your favourite tree?"

"Oak trees," Santana replied but she still didn't look at Brittany. "What's yours?"

"I like them all," Brittany smiled. "I think we're going to be great friends."


	4. Signing Up

**Boris Yeltsin: Yeah they are.**

**Nayalove: Thank you! Yeah hopefully, hoping to have Santana and Rachel make friends eventually but right now they're not lol.**

**Guest: Thank you and I'll try to make the chapters longer (especially for you) :) **

**Kyckling: Thank you and yeah I hope I have it right. It is Aspergers. **

Chapter Four: Signing Up 

Mr Schue sighed deeply to himself as he taped a sheet up onto the bulletin board in the middle of the corridor. Rachel soon walked over and read the title at the top of the sheet. Mr Schue was surprised to see her get a pen out of her bag and sign herself up straight away.

"I made a promise to myself that I'd join glee club," Rachel told Mr Schuester as she stuck a gold star next to her name. "You may think that I'm odd for putting a gold star next to my name but it's a metaphor and metaphors are important. This is a metaphor of me becoming a star." Mr Schue just chuckled at her and shook his head. "No more sign ups, I see. It may just be the two of us," she winked at him and walked away with her head held high. He then spotted Santana, Brittany and Quinn walking towards him.

"Hey you three," he smiled, "How about signing up for glee club?"

"What's glee club?" Quinn asked walking over to him.

"We sing and dance, learn different songs and compete in competitions. It's a lot of fun, Rachel's signed up already."

"I hate Rachel," Santana said straight out, making Quinn and Brittany giggle.

"It's fun, trust me," Mr Schue told them, "Just give it a go and if you don't like it; then you can quit. You like dancing, don't you Brittany?" Brittany nodded. She did love to dance, one of the reasons she fancied joining the cheerleading squad. It was what the three of them were just about to go and do.

"Won't it clash with cheerleading practice?" Quinn asked, "Us three are just going to go and try out now." He shook his head, "What do you say guys? You like singing, don't you Santana?" Santana nodded. "Sign up and me and Britt will sign up with you." Mr Schue handed Santana a pen. She took it and slowly and neatly wrote her name on the signup sheet.

"Take your time Santana," Brittany joked.

"Leave her," Quinn nudged her arm. "She always writes slow, it's so she can make it really neat and stuff. She hates it messy." Brittany nodded and decided to wait patiently. She'd just made friends with Santana; she didn't want to upset her. When she was done, Brittany signed up with Quinn following. "Thanks Mr Schue."

"Come and watch us try out," Santana told him, "I'm great at dancing." Quinn had to admit that she was a little worried about Santana trying out. The Cheerio's was a big group of people and Santana wasn't good at working with others. She was mainly trying out because Quinn was though and she always tended to copy Quinn.

"I guess I could," he nodded and followed them to the gym. Sue was sitting at a desk watching as Madison McQuire did her cheer. Quinn knew her well, she'd shoved Santana over earlier on so she was one of the reasons Quinn was worried. Mr Schue left them and went to pull up a chair beside Sue.

"I have to say William," she said without looking at him. "Either you decided to fry bacon on your head this morning or you've just used an awful lot of hair gel, I think I'm going to go with the bacon. What are you doing here?"

"Watching the girls try out," he told her as Quinn came up to the front with a bunch of pom poms.

"Quinn Fabray," Quinn introduced herself. Sue nodded at her and she began doing her cheer. She and Mr Schue were both really impressed from what she could do. Once she was finished, there was a long silence.

"You are Frannie Fabray's sister?" Sue asked straight away and Quinn nodded. "She was such a good head cheerleader and you remind me so much of her Quinn. Well done," Quinn thanked her and walked off stage handing the pom poms to Brittany who was to go next.

"If one of these is a pom pom," Brittany said to Sue. "Does that make two of them pom pom pom poms?"

"Just go ahead and cheer," she snapped. Brittany jumped and nodded. She didn't really do a cheer but instead, a dance routine that she'd made up. This involved the splits and jumping and touching her toes and everything. "Thank you Brittany; I'll get back to you." Brittany nodded and headed over nervously. Quinn gave her a pat on the back to let her know that she'd done okay. "Next!" Quinn gave Santana an encouraging nod as she headed into the gym, standing in front of the desk. "Step back!" Santana flinched and stepped back.

"Be nice Sue," Mr Schue leaned over to whisper in her ear. All the teachers knew that Santana was different but Mr Schue knew what Sue was like.

"Let's see what you got," she sighed and sat back to watch Santana. Santana seemed to surprise them all. She couldn't jump very high but she seemed to bend well and she was a good dancer. She looked quite uncomfortable when she'd finished. "Santana, I am going to be honest with you and I am going to treat you the same as everyone else because I think that crap is important."

"Sue," Mr Schue tried to warn her but she continued.

"That was really good," she said, "But people with Aspergers Syndrome or whatever it is that you have don't usually do well in crowds and well, there'll be like a group of twelve on the squad."

"I like working on my own," Santana said as she looked at the floor, "Not with people I don't know."

"Exactly and when you're on the Cheerio's, you need to work with other people instead of on your own," Sue sighed, "That was a good dance though so I am giving you the job as co-coach. Do you know what that is?" she shook her head. "It's very important. You take care of the equipment, help me decide what routine they do and where the cheerleaders stand and you also come to the competitions with us. How does that sound?"

"That sounds great!" Santana didn't even thank her and just raced off stage.

"How did it go?" Quinn asked her.

"I have the job as co-coach," Santana bragged.

"Wow, well done San," Brittany said, "Guess we just have to wait to see if me and Quinn make the team now."

"You will," Santana said, "I'll make sure of it; you guys are my best friends."


	5. Meeting Paula

**Just Kayleigh: Thank you :)**

**NayaHeMoGLEEK: Thanks and good to know that I am writing it correctly, I've done lots of research on it.**

Chapter Five: Meeting Paula 

"Okay Cheerio's, gather round!" Coach Sylvester shouted loudly into the megaphone. The Cheerio's all came together in their new cheer-leading uniforms, Santana going to stand beside the coach. "Congratulations to you all on making the squad and with great consideration, I have assigned the place of captain to Quinn Fabray!" She winked at Quinn who smiled and held her hands to her face before bowing to everyone who was clapping.

"Well done Quinn," Brittany praised. She was standing beside Quinn.

"Hit the showers," Coach told them all. Santana picked up the box and everyone tossed their pom poms into them. "Thank you Santana," she thanked her and walked away.

"So, what's it like being co-coach?" Quinn asked her friend as they headed towards the showers.

"It's great," Santana smiled, carrying the box inside and placing it on the floor. "I get to boss people around and it's so much fun, I like the uniform as well. It's red, my favourite colour. Can we go on the computer?"

"Sorry honey, Britt and I need to shower," Quinn told her, "It's alright for you. You've not been jumping about, don't you want a shower anyway?"

"I always have two showers a day," Santana said, "One at seven o'clock in the morning and the other after dinner in the evening. I never take a shower in the middle of the day." Quinn nodded at her and took out her deodorant. "I'll wait outside; it smells in here." Santana said and picked up her bag before leaving.

"She's brilliant," Brittany laughed, shaking her head once Santana had gone.

"She is," Quinn agreed, "She's great. You'll get used to her routine."

"Anything I should know?" Brittany asked. "I almost upset her earlier when she was signing up for glee, I don't want to upset her."

"Um...she doesn't like the colour yellow, she goes completely nuts with that, she is extremely sensitive, loves her routine but she is so clever, it's unbelievable. She's so intelligent."

"I noticed," Brittany laughed. "She likes trees, doesn't she?" Quinn nodded. "I might shower later, I'm going to go and see San."

"She doesn't like being touched either!" Quinn yelled as Brittany ran out. Santana was sitting on the floor outside. Brittany smiled and sat down beside her, trying not to get so close.

"Have you got your timetable?" Brittany asked Santana and she nodded. "Can I look? I want to see how many classes we have together." Santana reached into her backpack and pulled out her timetable, handing it to Brittany. "What are the classes with the star next to it?" Brittany asked and Santana leaned over, invading Brittany's personal space.

"The classes that I get help in," Santana told her.

"I get help in math," Brittany said, "I hate math, I can't do it."

"I'm brilliant at math! That's what Quinn says anyway but I always agree with Quinn." Brittany handed Santana her timetable and the two of them stood up, "Do we have some classes together?"

"We have quite a few," Brittany said. They began walking, ending up outside. Luckily, there weren't many people outside. They found Mr Schue and Miss Pillsbury though talking to a woman. Kurt, Finn and Mercedes were also stood talking to her. "I wonder who that is," Brittany said and gestured for Santana to follow her. They headed down the steps and ran over. "Hey Mr Schue, who's this?" Brittany asked.

"This is Paula," Mr Schue said and hugged Santana. "She'll be working with you." He told Santana. "Say hey," Santana didn't listen to him and ran to hug Miss Pillsbury as well.

"Hey can I have a hug?" Kurt asked and held his arms out. Santana smiled and ran over, hugging him too. "You give lovely hugs."

"She does," Finn said, giving her a hug. Santana then ran off up the field. Brittany giggled and followed her. "And she's off." Finn joked.

"She's quite affectionate, isn't she?" Paula asked. "Not many people with Aspergers are."

"She is with people she knows," Mr Schue said. "You'll get used to her, she doesn't actually have many outbursts. At lunches and breaks, we choose a couple of mature students to keep an eye on her. It's mainly been Quinn and Brittany at the moment, Quinn's known her for a long time so she's used to her. We do one to one sessions as well, mainly just about how she's feeling and things like that."

"Don't worry," Paula said, "I've worked with many people like her before."

"You need to talk to her about trees," Kurt mentioned, "She's obsessed with them, knows so much."

"We have gym first thing tomorrow morning," Mr Schue said, "You'll meet her properly then."

* * *

"Catch," Mr Schue threw a red ball towards Santana. Santana tried to catch it but it just fell to the grass at her feet. Paula was stood in the corner watching as the two of them played together. "Back in a minute Santana."

"One minute?" Santana asked.

"Well, maybe a bit longer."

"You said a minute though."

"Make it five," Mr Schue corrected himself. "I'll be back in five minutes," he said and made his way over to Paula. "She doesn't tend to join in with the others during gym, she can't work in groups and she tends to drop the ball quite a bit."

"I see," Paula giggled, "She's a good kid."

"She is," Mr Schue nodded, "She's no trouble. Have you got any questions at all?"

"No, I don't think I do," Paula said.

"You'll get Wednesdays off," Mr Schue told her, "Just so you do have some time off, either myself or Miss Pillsbury will work with her on Wednesdays." He headed back over to Santana, Paula following.

"You were gone for four minutes, twenty seven seconds," Santana said, "Not five minutes."

"It's always better to be early," he said, "Are you going to have a quick game with Paula?" Santana shook her head, "Why not?"

"I don't know her and unless she likes trees then..."

"Oh I do like trees," Paula interrupted.

"No talking when I'm talking." Santana said. "I have to start my sentence all over again now! I don't know her and unless she likes trees then I can't get along with her." She looked at the floor. "Now Paula can talk."

"I do like trees," Paula smiled. "What's your favourite tree Santana?"

"Oak," she mumbled. "You?"

"I like Elm trees, are you going to throw me the ball?" Santana threw it quite hard at her. "That was a bit hard Santana, how about throwing it a bit more gently?" She threw the ball back. Santana threw it, this time not so hard. "Well done," Paula praised. "And you caught it as well that time, really good."

"I guess I like you," Santana said. "But you can't wear yellow."

"Why can't I wear yellow?" Paula asked her.

"Isn't it obvious?" Santana asked, "I hate that colour."

**Bit of a random filler chapter but I hope you liked it. **


	6. Fun at the Park

**Glee96: Thanks. **

**Nayalove: Haha I quite liked that line and glad you like the idea. **

**Lolathe17th: Thanks and I will try and make it clearer in this chapter but I meant like people leaping on her or creeping up on her. Like when they hugged her, they didn't do that and she knows them well as well. **

Chapter Six: Fun at the Park

"I thought you said that Santana doesn't like being touched," Brittany said to Quinn as they sat on a grassy patch in the middle of the park. Quinn took a bite from her cheese sandwich and nodded. "Well, she seemed to be hugging everyone earlier."

"Touched by people she doesn't know," Quinn rephrased, "And like, she doesn't like it if you creep up on her and leap on her. If I ran over and leapt on her for a hug, she'd freak out." Brittany nodded, understanding that. "She seems to be getting on quite well with Kurt."

Brittany looked over and saw Santana climbing on the climbing frame, Kurt standing at the bottom supervising and keeping an eye on her. It was nice watching Santana play on the park equipment; it was like watching a five year old.

"She loves climbing," Quinn told her. "Trees especially."

"Quinn!" Santana raced over at full speed with Kurt behind, "Did you see me?" Quinn nodded and offered her a sandwich, "No, I'm not hungry."

"Sweetheart, your mom just text me telling me to make sure you eat because she knows what you're like with your food," Santana shook her head, "Eat and then you can go on the climbing frame again. Eat first though." Santana knelt down on the grass and picked up a sandwich to eat. "Well done."

"Hey Quinn, why couldn't Finn come?" Brittany asked.

"He had to stay late for football practice," Quinn told her. "We're going out this weekend, to Breadstix."

"I want to go to Breadstix!" Santana yelled, "I like it there."

"Sorry San, maybe you and I could go another time okay?" Quinn asked, "It's just me and Finn this weekend." She didn't bother to explain about it being a date because she knew that Santana wouldn't understand.

"When?" Santana asked, "When another time."

"We'll see," Quinn told her.

"When?" Santana repeated.

"Soon, I promise," Quinn said, "I'm not exactly sure what day or time but it will be as soon as possible alright? How about I let you know tomorrow, not sure what time but at some point tomorrow?" Santana nodded.

"Me and Kurt went over to the big tree over there," Santana told Quinn as she ate her sandwich. "It's not an oak tree though and it isn't an elm tree either. It's an Ailanthus tree, that's quite a hard word to say really. They're fast-growing trees that grow to 25-45 metres tall and they have large, spreading branches as well."

"Maybe we can go and feed the ducks as well," Brittany suggested to Santana.

"And they have large pinnate leaves with 15-41 long pointed leaflets," Santana continued. "The leaves are actually yellow or green but they do turn red and brown as well sometimes. One of the species of trees is the Ailanthus Altissima and that is known as the Tree of Heaven."

"How do you know these facts about trees?" Kurt asked her, "You know loads."

"The internet," Santana said, "But people buy me lots of books at Christmas and Birthdays and stuff like that. I have exactly twenty seven and a half books on trees in my bedroom."

"And a half?" Brittany questioned.

"Yeah," Santana nodded, "One of them got broken by Vicita when she was two. Mom's boyfriend, Jared made me a shelf though that I put really high up so she can't reach them anymore. Vicita likes resting on top of the TV."

"Does Vicita have autism?" Kurt asked.

"Yeah she does," Quinn nodded. "San has Aspergers which is actually a type of autism, they're not really sure what Vicita has but it's more severe. She can't talk and she screams loads. She's a great kid though."

"Mom says that she has the beauty of the family and I have the brains," Santana said, "But I don't get that because everybody has brains so she can't really say that, it's silly."

"She just means that you are cleverer than your sister," Brittany told her. "But you're beautiful as well so you also have beauty."

"But Mom said Vicita has the beauty." Santana pointed out. "Not me."

"You have beauty too," Quinn giggled. "Trust me; you're beautiful in our eyes."

"What about other people's eyes?" Santana asked. "Because everybody has eyes so does that mean I...I'm ugly in other people's eyes?"

"No, course you're not," Brittany said, "You're beautiful Santana. Shall we go and play?" Brittany stood up and walked over to Santana. "We can climb trees if you want," Santana got up at once then and ran off down the hill.

"Careful!" Quinn called after, "Look after her Britt." Brittany nodded and ran after Santana. "I wish she wouldn't run off like that."

"You worry way too much about her," Kurt laughed, "She's fine, don't worry about it."

"Brittany, look!" Santana yelled out loudly. "This is the Ailanthus tree; look at the leaves on it. I might take one home to put in my leaf collection, I collect lots of different leaves from all sorts of trees. Mom says I'm obsessed."

"It's okay to be obsessed with things," Brittany laughed as they climbed the tree together. "I'm obsessed with ducks and cats; I have a cat, he's called Lord Tubbington."

"Is he a king?" Santana asked but Brittany shook her head. "I hate cats, I want a dog but Mom's boyfriend doesn't like them and he's at our house practically every day."

"Do you like him?" Brittany asked but Santana just shrugged her shoulders and jumped down from the tree.

"He's alright," she sighed, "But he pays more attention to Vicita and I don't like that. I just sit in my room working on my models."

"What models?" Brittany asked.

"I have these little model sets," Santana smiled, pleased that Brittany was interested. "There are houses, boats, cars, trees and people! They come with paints so I paint them all and set them up in my room, you should come round and see them some time."

"I'd like that," Brittany nodded. "I really like you Santana."

"Thanks," Santana thanked her and ran back up the hill. Brittany sighed, she may not have said she liked her back but she could tell by the happiness on her face when she spoke to her.


	7. Coping at Lunch Time

Chapter Seven: Coping at Lunch Time

"Right, so for the first twenty minutes you eat lunch and you've done that," Kurt said, ticking lunch off of the list. "Next twenty minutes, we have ball games." Santana remained seated on the bench as Kurt grabbed a bouncy ball from the box in the gym. Santana hated going outside at lunch so Mr Schue had assigned them the gym to use. She'd eaten lunch with Quinn and now it was Kurt's turn to supervise her.

"Are there any red balls?" Santana asked, going to check the box herself. She soon found a red one and picked that one up instead. "This one instead." Kurt nodded and put his ball back in the box.

"Right, how good are you at catching?"

"Not very," Santana answered and shrugged her shoulders. "I drop it loads."

"Okay, let's sit on the floor then," Kurt sat down and Santana sat opposite him. "And we'll just slowly roll it to each other," he placed the ball in front of him and rolled it towards Santana. It rolled to the side but Santana managed to quickly grab it and roll it back to Kurt. "Good, bit faster this time." Santana nodded as they began rolling the ball to each other even faster. "Now, we have ten minutes left of ball games. What do you want to do?"

"I want to do something else," Santana whined, "I'm bored of this."

"We've got ten minutes left and then you're in the computer room with Brittany for twenty minutes, come on. How about some throwing and catching, eh? It doesn't matter if you drop it, honestly." He stood up and helped Santana up with him. "We'll stand quite close and I'll throw it really gently," Santana nodded and he threw the ball to her. She managed to catch it. "There you go, well done!"

"This is fun!" Santana jumped up and down and threw the ball back. It was quite a hard throw and hit the wall, bouncing back off it.

"Walls don't think that fast," Kurt laughed.

"Walls don't think at all," Santana pointed out to him. "That's a silly thing to say." The door then opened and Brittany walked in. "Brittany!"

"Hey, Mr Schue said that you'd be in here," Brittany smiled, "Twenty minutes is up; are you ready to go?" Santana nodded. She waved goodbye to Kurt before going with Brittany towards the computer room. Mr Schue had unlocked it for them. "So, what do you like doing on the computer?" Brittany asked as Santana logged onto the one nearer the door. Brittany took a seat next to her, "Play games? Email?"

"Go on my favourite website," Santana smiled and found a website all about trees. "This one."

"Is this where you get all your facts from then?" Brittany asked, peering over Santana's shoulder at the website.

"Yeah, they've got loads," Santana said excitedly. "Like this one, there are over 23,000 different kinds of trees in the world. I don't know if I've already told you that but it's really interesting, that there can be that many different trees. It's amazing!"

"It is amazing," Brittany nodded in agreement, "You're amazing Santana; the amount of stuff you know is really fascinating, it interests me."

"Really?" Santana asked. "Most people think that my facts are quite boring."

"I don't think they're boring at all," Brittany shrugged. "I bet you get A's in Science, don't you?" Santana didn't answer her and continued looking at the tree website. Brittany looked as well but didn't get too close because she knew Santana liked her personal space. The door opened and Mr Schue walked in.

"Santana, five more minutes," Mr Schue told her. Santana didn't respond. "Santana!" She subtly looked over out the corner of her eye. "Five minutes!" She faintly nodded.

"We're looking at trees Mr Schue," Brittany smiled. "San knows loads about them, it's really interesting."

"It sounds it," he said. "Santana, you have English next so Paula is going to sit with you during that and help you out alright?" Santana faintly nodded, eyes fixed on the computer screen. "We're going to switch this off now then, yeah? We'll get you to the classroom a little earlier so you're not late."

"No," Santana whined and placed her hands on the screen. "I'm using it!"

"Santana, you know the rules," he said sternly, "Twenty minutes only and then off to class, come on." He tried to get her off the computer but she lashed out and hit him, screaming loudly. "Come on." Brittany tried to pull her away from Mr Schue gently.

"No, no, no," Santana repeated over and over, flapping her hands at Brittany and slapping her away. "I want to go on the computer!"

"Come on Santana, you have English," Brittany said calmly, "Computer time is finished now."

"NO! I'm looking up trees! I don't like English!" Santana sat back down at her computer and started reading the website again.

"You can go on again later," Mr Schue told her, "I promise okay?" Santana shook her head, refusing to get off. "Come on." Quinn walked in. "Hey Quinn, you okay?"

"Yeah I just came to bring Santana to English," Quinn said, knowing that the Latina always needed someone to walk her to class or she'd get distracted and end up really late. "Is she refusing to get off?" Mr Schue nodded, "San, come on babe," Quinn walked over. "Off the computer." Santana even pushed Quinn away though, accidentally hitting her.

"Come on Sannie," Brittany jumped up, "Let's go to English. We can talk about trees on the way there." Brittany smiled and held a reassuring hand out to Santana. Santana glanced at her hand and then back at the computer. She slowly logged off and took Brittany's hand, allowing her to lead her off to English class.


	8. Bullying

Chapter Eight: Bullying 

"Hey retard!" Karofsky yelled loudly, pushing Santana hard against the lockers. Santana didn't answer him but instead, looked him straight in the eye. "What's the matter?" he asked. "Too scared to fight back retard?" Santana looked at the books that she'd dropped and then back at Karofsky. She pursed her lips together and lunged at him, punching him hard and screaming. "Whoa, hey get off me crazy!"

"Don't call me a retard!" Santana screamed, punching him harder. "Don't call me a retard!"

Everyone had crowded round to watch the fight, some cheering Santana on and some cheering Karofsky on. Quinn and Kurt had heard the screaming all the way from the library and had gone running straight away, just in time.

"San, no!" Quinn yelled. Throwing her bag to Kurt, she raced forwards and grabbed hold of Santana. "Stop it."

"He called me a retard!" Santana yelled in tears and pointed at Karofsky. "He called me a retard!"

"He what?" Brittany asked, walking over. "Don't you dare call her that," she hissed in Karofsky's voice. "Never call her that again!"

"Britt, just leave it," Quinn whispered and rubbed Santana's back, "Come on sweetie." Santana allowed herself to be led back to Kurt by Quinn and Brittany. "What did he say to you?" Quinn asked her friend.

"He called me a retard," Santana whispered, "And then asked if I was too scared to fight back and when I did, he...he called me crazy."

"Don't let Karofsky get to you," Kurt said, "He's a bully, he's horrible to everyone."

"He's only horrible to me because I have autism," Santana said quietly. Brittany placed an arm round her but she shoved her off. "I want to go home."

"You can't go home," Quinn said, "It isn't home time yet, why don't we get you to Paula and tell her?" Santana was silent but Quinn took her off to Santana's special room to find Paula. She was in there but Mr Schue was as well. "Paula?"

"Hey Quinn," Paula then looked at Santana, "Hey Santana; what's the matter?" She asked seeing the sad look on the Latina's face.

"Karofsky called me a retard," Santana whispered and actually let Paula hug her. "Don't worry, I hit him."

"Santana," Mr Schue yelled, looking up from marking papers. "You don't hit people."

"I was defending myself!" Santana yelled back. "I hate him, he's a fucking bastard and I hate him!" Santana then kicked Paula hard and raced out of the room. Quinn took one look at the teachers and followed her. She found Kurt and Brittany coming the other way. "Guys, have you seen Santana? She got upset and ran out."

"Not seen her," Brittany shrugged, "I'll help you look."

"Thank you," Quinn thanked her and she and Brittany ran off in search of Santana. She wasn't in the choir room and she wasn't in the library or the gym or the cafeteria. "Let's check the Spanish room, she knows that room well." Brittany nodded in agreement as they made their way to the Spanish classroom. "San," Quinn whispered walking inside. She found Santana curled up underneath her desk, facing away from them, "Hey," Quinn placed her bag down and knelt on the floor, peeking underneath.

"Go away," Santana whispered.

"San, I'm here too," Brittany said quietly, shutting the door behind her.

"San, what are you doing?" Quinn asked, removing Santana's hand away from her arm. She then saw small, white lines going up and down her tanned arm. "San, you know that you shouldn't do that," Quinn said.

"What's she doing?" Brittany questioned.

"Scratching herself with her nails," Quinn sighed, "She does it when she gets upset, her mom hates it. San, stop it." She took tight hold of Santana's hand and removed it from her arm, making her scream and slap Quinn hard across the face. Quinn looked at the Latina in shock as she held a hand to her sore cheek.

"Are you alright?" Brittany asked, sitting down on the floor beside Quinn.

"She's never hit me before," Quinn whispered, sounding close to tears. Her cheek didn't actually hurt but it did hurt that Santana had slapped her.

"San, can you come out of there?" Brittany asked gently but Santana whimpered and continued to scratch at her arm. "Sannie, you'll hurt yourself if you keep doing that." Brittany crawled round on the floor so she was finally facing Santana. "Quinn's sad now, because you hit her." Santana was silent. "And I'm sad because you keep scratching yourself and you won't listen to us."

"Makes me feel better," Santana mumbled.

"But it makes us sad and it hurts you," Brittany slowly reached out and took hold of Santana's wrist, causing the girl to stop scratching. Quinn watched them intensely. "You know what you can do, take a deep breath, count to ten and stop scratching. Do it with me, breathe," Santana breathed, "One...two...three..."

"Four...five...six," Santana finished. "Seven...eight...nine...ten." Brittany removed her hand from Santana's wrist and Santana stopped scratching at her arm. "Good, now get out from under the table." Santana slowly crawled out from under the table and sat upright. "Better?" she faintly nodded and looked at Quinn.

"It's fine," Quinn nodded, knowing that Santana didn't mean to hurt her. "I'm just glad you're okay."

"I'm a retard," Santana whispered, "I'm a retard, retard, retard!" Santana began hitting herself.

"San, no," Brittany stopped her, "You're not a retard; Karofsky doesn't know what he's saying. You are beautiful and you are not a retard."

"Then why did he say it?" Santana asked.

"Because he's jealous," Brittany said, "He's jealous that you have more friends than he does and to stop himself from being jealous, he bullies you." Santana smiled. "But you can't fight him again because then you will look like the bad person and get into trouble. Can you do that for me?"

"Yeah, okay," Santana nodded. "Brittany?"

"Yeah?"

"It's my birthday soon; do you want to come to my party?" Santana asked.

"Yes," Brittany giggled and nodded, "I'd love to."


	9. A Birthday Meal

Chapter Nine: A Birthday Meal

"Mom, it's my birthday!" Santana yelled as she raced into her mom's bedroom and jumped onto the bed, "It's my birthday! I'm fourteen today, wake up." Aletta groaned and rolled onto her back, reaching out to ruffle her daughter's messy hair. "I'm fourteen!"

"Happy birthday sweetie," she smiled and kissed her, "Is your sister awake?"

"She's been awake for ages, she's downstairs," Santana beamed from ear to ear. "It's my birthday," she screamed and began bouncing up and down on the bed. "Have I got presents?"

"Oh I don't know," Aletta sat up and shook her head, "I didn't think I'd bother this year." Santana looked quite upset and sat down on the bed. "I'm only joking sweetie, of course you have presents. You go downstairs and sit with your sister and I will bring them down for you." Santana nodded and jumped down from the bed before racing out of the room. Vicita was downstairs colouring in her colouring book when Santana raced in.

"It's my birthday Vicita!" Santana yelled excitedly. "I'm fourteen today!"

"Mine!" Vicita grabbed hold of her colouring book and clutched it to her chest, "Mine!"

"I know it's yours," Santana said, sounding quite annoyed. Aletta then walked in and sat down on the couch with a handful of neatly wrapped parcels. "Presents!" Santana screamed and went to sit down on the couch beside her mother. Vicita watched Santana unwrap her first present and began crying, trying to grab one.

"Vicita, it's Santana's birthday," Aletta told her youngest daughter, "But here, look," she brought out a small present from her gown and handed it to Vicita. "That's for Vicita, that's Vicita's special present to open."

"But Mom, it's my birthday," Santana said, unwrapping a brand new t-shirt. It was purple with a black love heart on the front. "I love it, but why does Vicita get a present?"

"It's just one," Aletta said, "And on Vicita's birthday, you can have one. Think of it as a little un-birthday present."

"Fine," Santana mumbled and started on her next present. "Can you drive me, Quinn and Brittany to Breadstix today for my special birthday meal?"

"Yes," Aletta nodded, "The normal time, one o'clock?" Santana nodded as the doorbell rang, "You carry on opening the rest; I'll get the door." Santana continued opening her presents as Aletta got the door. Vicita had been given a cuddly rabbit with a pink bow round it's neck and was hugging it and laughing. "Look who's here Santana, it's Jared." Santana smiled but Jared knelt down on the floor and chuckled, allowing Vicita to run over and give him a hug. "Vicita's feeling a little left out."

"I bet you are princess," Jared kissed her and fished a parcel from his pocket, handing it to Santana. "Here you go kiddo, just a little something from me."

"What do you say Santana?" Aletta asked.

"Thank you," Santana thanked him quietly and put it to one side whilst she opened the others.

Quinn and Brittany were both being dropped off by their parents about half past twelve and then whilst Jared took care of Vicita, Aletta was going to drop the three girls off at Breadstix for Santana's birthday meal. They'd come together and dead on time as well; they knew what Santana got like if they were late.

"You can open your presents when we get to Breadstix," Quinn joked, tapping Santana on the nose.

"Wait, can she have my little one first?" Brittany asked. Quinn nodded. "Yay," Brittany reached into her bag and pulled out a pink birthday girl badge. "You can have this first so you can wear it to Breadstix," she said, pinning it on Santana's shirt. "It looks great."

"Are you girls ready to go?" Aletta asked walking in. Santana nodded. She sat in the middle of the back seats between Brittany and Quinn whilst Aletta drove. Vicita was staying with Jared which to Aletta's surprise, she actually didn't mind.

"Hey Britt," Quinn leaned across to tell Brittany, "San almost burned my house down the other day. She left the oven on."

"Ah YOU left the oven on," Santana corrected. "You were the last one to use it."

"You're so lucky to have your birthday on a Saturday," Brittany told Santana.

"I know," Quinn nodded in agreement, "I had mine on a Tuesday last year so I was at school most of the day, it sucked."

"Okay girls, we're here," Aletta said, pulling up outside Breadstix. "So, pick you up about half past two?" Santana nodded. "Have fun you three." Santana leaned across and kissed her mom before climbing out the car with Brittany and Quinn.

"So, shall we give San her presents now?" Quinn asked once they were seated at a table. Brittany nodded, "Okay this one is from me," Quinn handed over a rectangular parcel. "Happy fourteenth birthday." Santana smiled and began unwrapping it. Quinn had brought a red photo frame and filled it with loads of different pictures of her and Santana together.

"I love it," Santana smiled, "Thank you Quinn."

"Open mine now," Brittany begged and handed her a huge square present. Santana looked excited and opened up a big, thick book on trees. "I hope you haven't got it already, I did check with your mom and she didn't think you had."

"I haven't!" she grinned. "Thank you Brittany! I love it!"

"Now, I know you're probably dying to read it," Quinn giggled. "But try and wait until after the meal, okay?" Santana nodded and allowed Quinn to keep her presents in her bag. "So, are you having a good birthday so far?"

"Yeah," Santana nodded, munching at a breadstick. "Breadsticks were created in the 14th century although according to a local tradition, they were invented by a baker in Lanzo Torinese in 1679. That's in northern Italy."

"Wow," Brittany laughed. "How are you still single?"

"San doesn't like boys," Quinn whispered. "She's just not interested in being in a relationship; you should see her when me and Finn kiss. She sits there and says eww gross." Brittany laughed, imagining that. She couldn't help but feel quite upset and disappointed though.


	10. Asking Santana Out

Chapter Ten: Asking Santana Out 

"Brittany, can I talk to you?" Quinn asked, walking over to Brittany at school the next day. "I saw how disappointed you looked on Saturday when I said that Santana didn't do relationships." Brittany bit her lip nervously. "You like her, don't you?"

"What if I do?" Brittany whispered.

"It's not a problem if you do," Quinn shrugged her shoulders, "I just think that you should be careful because Santana, she...she doesn't understand love so I doubt she'll understand love with the same sex. We're trying to teach her though so she could grow up and have a future, like in health class and stuff."

"I don't mind," Brittany lied. "Honestly, there's just something different about Santana."

"Just because she's autistic," Quinn pointed out.

"No," Brittany shook her head, "I don't care about that at all; I like Santana. She's lovely, she's never afraid to say what she thinks and she knows all these amazing facts."

"Mainly because she's different from everyone else," Quinn reminded her, "Being in a relationship with someone who's autistic may not be that easy Brittany. Don't get me wrong, I'd really like it if you and Santana went out but it might just be quite hard for you; that's all."

"I'll manage," Brittany reassured her.

"Quinn, Brittany!" Santana yelled with excitement, running over to her friends and holding out her wrist. On it, sat a beautiful bracelet with lots of different coloured beads. "Look what Paula got me for my birthday."

"Wow, it's beautiful," Quinn said. "Do you like being fourteen then?"

"Yeah," Santana smiled and nodded. "Can we go and play on the computer?"

"Course we can," Quinn took Santana's hand and led her to the computer room, Brittany following. "I bet you're going to go on your favourite website, full of tree facts yeah?" Santana laughed and nodded, walking into the room. She noticed someone sitting at her usual computer. "That's my computer."

"Shove off, I'm sitting here," the boy scowled at her and continued to play a game.

"But I always sit there," Santana stomped her foot.

"Santana, we can sit somewhere else," Quinn told her sweetly, "Okay, we can sit at another computer. It doesn't matter, just for one day." Brittany headed over to a computer at the very back of the room and as soon as Santana saw, she raced over and sat down at it. "Good," Quinn sighed.

"Santana, do you want to hang out this evening?" Brittany asked.

"Hang out where?" Santana asked, her eyes fixed to the computer screen. Quinn came and sat down on the other side of Santana, watching as Brittany attempted to ask Santana out. "There was this article in the newspaper of a man who was hanged in his bedroom by his wife. I don't want to be hanged if that's what you're asking."

"No, I...I didn't mean it like that," Brittany shook her head, "I meant like go somewhere, like to the mall or the park or something?"

"Sure." Santana said, continuing to look at the computer.

"Well, where do you want to go?" Brittany asked. "You can decide."

"What about my house?" Santana asked. "Malls and parks are too crowded and I've never been to your house before so how about we go to my house? My mom can cook pizza." Brittany hesitated but nodded anyway. "Good."

"So, it's a date then?" Brittany asked.

"What do you mean by date?" Santana asked, "Because when Quinn goes out with Finn, she calls it a date and they kiss and stuff. Besides, girls don't date each other."

"That's not true San," Quinn said, "Girls can date each other; they don't have to date boys."

"But I don't understand," Santana yelled.

"You don't have to yell." Quinn said.

"What do you mean anyway?" Santana asked, "About dating."

"There are girls who date other girls, they're called lesbians," Quinn said, "Brittany's a lesbian, you know?"

"Actually," Brittany raised a hand, "I'm bi-sexual," she turned to Santana, "That's someone who likes both boys and girls." Santana turned back to the computer and typed the word 'bi-sexual' into the search bar.

"So, this is you?" Santana asked, pointing to an image that had popped up. Brittany and Quinn both laughed, "What's so funny? That's what came up."

"No," Brittany shook her head, "I am bi but that...that isn't me."

"You're confusing me," Santana whined.

"Brittany doesn't necessarily look like that," Quinn said, pointing to the girl on the screen. "Because all bi-sexuals and lesbians look differently, okay?" Santana nodded. "But being bi or a lesbian isn't a bad thing at all, we still like Brittany don't we?"

"Course we do," Santana smiled and looked up at Brittany. "How about we go to the mall?"

"Are you sure?" Brittany asked, "We could go to your house."

"No, the mall's good," Santana nodded and got back to her computer. Brittany smiled and looked down at Santana.

"I love you," she said.

"I love you too," Santana said back. "You're my best friend."


	11. Relationship Problems

Chapter Eleven: Relationship Problems 

"So Santana, if there was a female tree and a male tree..."

"Trees don't talk to each other, they can't talk."

"Well, what's your favourite animal?"

"Animals don't talk either."

Trying to explain things to Santana in a way that she liked was not easy. She often got distracted or just phased out during a lesson so Paula, Quinn and Brittany thought about explaining the girl and girl relationship with either trees or animals. It didn't work though.

"Okay Santana," Paula sighed as she took a sheet of paper and drew a small stick man onto it. She then added a skirt, a smiley face and some long hair, turning it into a stick woman. "That is you." Santana smiled and began laughing. "Now, what is wrong with my drawing?"

"It looks nothing like me," Santana giggled.

"Well that's you," Paula said. "And this..." she drew another stick woman, using a yellow crayon for the blonde hair. "That is Brittany."

"Who is bi-sexual," Santana pointed out. "A person who likes boys and girls."

"Yes," Quinn nodded with a small smile. "And she wants to go out with you for a day, like on a date. That'd be nice, wouldn't it?" Quinn still wasn't sure on the idea of Brittany and Santana dating. Santana was very sensitive and had never been on a date before and she didn't want Brittany to hurt her in any way. She wanted her friend to be happy though and she did seem to get on with Brittany. "Would you like to go out with Brittany?"

"Yeah," Santana nodded. "Can we go after school? I'll have to tell mom though because she was going to pick me up and I don't usually go anywhere after school on Wednesday's."

"Sure," Brittany laughed, "You can break your routine for just one day," she smiled. "We could go to the park and then maybe the mall for some shopping and something to eat?" Santana nodded. "Great, what do you like to eat?"

"Anything apart from fish, I can't stand fish. Especially tuna," Santana said, making Brittany laugh, "What are you laughing at? Tuna isn't funny."

"Yeah I know," Brittany nodded. "It'll be great, trust me."

* * *

"An oak tree!" Santana screamed and ran towards a huge tree, climbing up to one of the branches. "Look Brittany, it's definitely an oak tree because you can tell by the leaves." Brittany smiled leaning against it with her arms folded. "So this is a date?" she nodded. "I love you."

"Thanks," Brittany smiled with a small sigh. "You too." She had a feeling though that Santana still didn't understand dating girls and that she was only saying I love you because she didn't know what else to say. "Trees have a really nice texture on them."

"Can we go now?" Brittany asked, "I'm getting hungry."

"What do you mean you're getting hungry?" Santana asked. "You either are or you aren't hungry."

"I am hungry," Brittany rephrased but Santana was still walking along the bottom of the tree, running her hand up it. "Santana, come on," she whined and took Santana's hand before dragging her away. "We can look at the tree later, I'm hungry though."

They ended up going to Breadstix for the meal as they both liked it there and Santana seemed to be talking about it loads on the way. Brittany had no idea what to say to Santana when they were sat at the table but luckily, Santana was the first to speak.

"I love you," she said again.

"You too," Brittany whispered, "What are you having to eat?"

"I'm going to have my usual, do you like cards?" Brittany nodded. "I do but not birthday cards, I find them pointless and I got lots of birthday cards on my last birthday."

"I got you a birthday card," Brittany shrugged.

"But I don't like birthday cards."

Brittany knew that she needed to be patient with Santana but she also knew that she'd have to talk to Quinn about it. Quinn knew Santana well, she was her best friend. After the slow meal at Breadstix, Brittany gave Quinn a call. Santana's mom had just dropped her off.

"Hello?" Quinn answered and smiled when she heard Brittany's voice, "Brittany, hey. How was the date?"

"Alright," Brittany sighed, fiddling with her necklace. "Well, it was really good and I had fun but...I don't know it's just quite hard dating an...an autistic person."

"What do you mean?" Quinn asked.

"Well she often just talked about things that she was interested in and all she wanted to do was play on an oak tree and she...she kept saying that she loved me."

"And that's a problem because...?" Quinn asked, expecting an answer from Brittany.

"Well, I...I just had a feeling that she was only saying it because she didn't know what else to say," Brittany whispered, "Because she kept saying it, that's all."

"What if she did mean it?" Quinn asked, "She might have."

"I don't know," Brittany sniffled.

"Go out with her one more time Brittany," Quinn said. "And if it's a problem then...then you're just going to have to break up with her."


	12. True Love

Chapter Twelve: True Love 

Brittany took a deep breath and knocked loudly on the front door of Santana's house. It took a while for someone to answer and Brittany could hear someone moving around inside. She folded her arms across her chest and knocked again. Aletta soon answered this time.

"Oh hey Mrs Lopez," Brittany smiled, rocking back and forth on her heels. "Is Santana in?"

"Yes she is," Aletta sighed, "Maybe you could talk to her. She's been feeling a little down lately, refuses to get out of bed." Brittany gasped as her eyes widened. Maybe Santana could tell that she'd been a little annoyed during the date. Maybe Brittany had really upset her.

"I...I'll give it a go," Brittany nodded and walked inside. "Is she in her room?" Aletta nodded so Brittany slowly made her way up the stairs to Santana's bedroom. She tapped lightly before going inside. Santana was curled up on her side in bed, facing the wall. "Santana," Brittany whispered as she walked in and sat on the edge of the bed, "Santana, I'm sorry."

"What are you sorry for?" Santana sniffed. "You've not done anything wrong."

"I haven't?" Brittany asked, raising an eyebrow. "What's the matter?"

"Someone posted horrible comments on my Facebook wall, calling me a retard." Brittany sighed and glanced down at Santana's bare arm, noticing the tiny, white scratches.

"Santana," Brittany whispered and ran her thumb over her arm, causing her to flinch slightly. "You know, your mom doesn't like it when you scratch yourself." Santana just pulled her arm away from her, "Does it hurt?" Santana nodded. "Then why do you do it?"

"Don't tell my mom," Santana whispered, rolling over onto her back. "Please," she begged.

"I won't," Brittany shook her head. "But don't do it again." She then heard a loud growl. "Was that your stomach?" Brittany asked with a slight giggle. "Have you eaten anything today San?"

"No," Santana said quietly. "I'm not hungry."

"You sound hungry," Brittany said, "I'll go and get you something."

"No!" Santana grabbed hold of her arm and pulled her back down on the bed. "I don't want anything to eat." Brittany sighed and looked nervously at Santana. She hated seeing her like this. "Can you stay please?" Brittany nodded. She couldn't break up with her now, not when she was so upset. "Thank you."

"Don't mention it," Brittany smiled. "Why do you scratch yourself Santana?"

"It just makes me feel better," Santana shrugged her shoulders. "You don't have to worry Brittany. It's just...I've always been known as the retard, just because I'm autistic and I just don't think it's fair. I do stand up to them, I do but it...it still doesn't stop them and it makes me so upset, so upset that I get angry and...And scratch myself."

"But it's self harming," Brittany whispered and hung her head, "And refusing to eat is anorexia."

"I'm not anorexic," Santana mumbled.

"Do you know what that is?" Brittany asked.

"Don't treat me like a fucking baby Brittany!" Santana yelled. "That is why I liked you! You were the only one who didn't treat me like a baby, even Quinn does it sometimes and I hate it. I'm the same age as you, you know?"

"Sorry," Brittany apologised and nodded. "I just don't want anything to happen to you Santana, you're my best friend and I love you."

"And you're girlfriend, right?" Santana questioned. Brittany hesitated and nodded. "Can I read to you?" Santana asked and grabbed the book on trees that Brittany had given her for her birthday, "From my favourite book."

"That's your favourite book?" Brittany asked with a smile and Santana nodded. "Well, what about your other tree books?"

"Well, this one was from my girlfriend," Santana said as she opened the book up to the first page. She then handed the open book to Brittany along with a purple pen. "Can you maybe write a message inside?"

"Sure, but my spelling isn't all that great," Brittany laughed.

"That doesn't matter."

Brittany clicked the pen and thought for a second before scribbling into the inside of the book. Santana watched as Brittany drew a little purple heart and signed her name with kisses. She then handed the book back to Santana who began to read it slowly.

_To San_

_Happy 14__th__ birthday sweetie, I couldn't ask for a better girlfriend. Enjoy and have a good read, love you._

_Brittany xxxx_

At the bottom was a small heart and she'd even written Santana's birthday so she could remember the date that she was given the book. Santana closed the book and leaned forward, wrapping her arms round Brittany's neck.

"I love you," Santana whispered and buried her face into Brittany's shoulder, and this time Brittany was sure that she meant it.


	13. Routine

Chapter Thirteen: Routine 

"Brittany!"

Santana yelled and slammed the car door shut before racing up to her girlfriend. Brittany spun round with Quinn as Santana leapt into her arms, squealing with excitement. Brittany laughed and hugged the Latina.

"Bye Vicita!" Santana waved to the car. Her mom was driving whilst Vicita was waving rapidly from the back.

"How are you today sweetie?" Quinn asked, rubbing Santana's shoulder as the three of them walked into school.

"Good," Santana nodded, tripping over her own feet. "I have to go to the additional learning support room," she said slowly, sounding out each word. "That's in room 141 next to the library, it's really small."

"Why do you need to go there?" Brittany asked.

"To sort out having some extra help on Friday mornings," Santana told her. "Can you come with me, because you're my girlfriend?" Brittany giggled and nodded, placing an arm round her. "We need to go now."

"Alright sweetie," Brittany said, "I have to go to my locker but I will meet you there, okay?" she asked. Santana nodded and rushed into school. "She's lovely, she is," Brittany said to Quinn as they stopped walking.

"Yeah," Quinn sighed, "I'm really glad that you didn't break up with her, what changed your mind?"

"Just something," Brittany shrugged her shoulders. "I just...I just found out how much I...I wanted to be with her."

"That's sweet," Quinn smiled and gave her a tiny push. "Go on, you should go and meet San. You know what she gets like if you're late." Brittany nodded and headed off to room 141 to look for her girlfriend. Santana was already in there with Paula.

"Brittany!" Santana yelled when she noticed her. "Paula, Brittany's here!"

"I can see that," Paula smiled as she checked over Santana's timetable. "So I will see you for two hours on the Friday morning, okay?" she asked and Santana nodded. "I have written it on your timetable so you should remember."

"I'll remember anyway," Santana said proudly and got up from her chair. "Thank you very much Paula."

"You're welcome honey," Paula laughed as Santana tucked her timetable into her blue folder and pulled out a sheet of paper, handing it to Brittany. "What's she given you Brittany?" Paula asked as Brittany read it over.

"Not sure," Brittany said, "What's this San?"

"My routine, mom made it for me," Santana said, "It has a list of everything that needs doing each day and how long it takes. I next have to go to my locker which takes five minutes." Brittany beamed proudly. Santana seemed to know her routine off by heart. "And if I do all my chores and homework on time, I get a sticker on my sticker chart."

"Your mom did all this?" Brittany asked and Santana nodded, "That was nice of her, have you got any stickers yet?"

"Only two," Santana said.

"That's good so far," Brittany praised her, "Well done; that's really good."

"Thank you," Santana took the paper back and tucked it in her folder. "I'm all organised, I have everything that I need in this folder. I could get you a folder if you'd like Brittany, that way you won't keep forgetting what rooms your classes are in."

"I don't forget!" Brittany squealed in a high pitched voice.

"You do too," Santana laughed. "I never forget and I always get there on time." Brittany nodded faintly, getting kind of annoyed and hurt that Santana was making fun of her. She knew that she didn't mean to but it was still upsetting. "We have to go Brittany!"

"I'll be there in a second," Brittany said.

"Just a second?" Santana asked.

"Five minutes," Brittany rephrased. Santana nodded and grabbed her bag and folder before running off. "Paula, can I talk to you about something?" Brittany asked. Paula nodded and had Brittany take a seat. "Does Santana understand the love between two girls?"

"Well she never used to," Paula laughed, "I think she's getting to understand it though; why?"

"We just never do any relationship stuff," Brittany whispered, "Like kissing or...or even...sex," she added quietly. "The closest we do is hug really; it just doesn't feel like I'm in a proper relationship."

"Do you love Santana?" Paula asked Brittany and she nodded. "Then I think you should just keep trying Brittany, if you love her then you'd do whatever it takes to be with her right?" Brittany nodded again. "Go on, you'll be late for class."

"Thank you," Brittany thanked her and left the library. She found Santana at her locker.

"You were three minutes, fifty five seconds," Santana said, "You were early."

"Yeah," Brittany nodded and walked over to her, "So, what's next on your routine list?"

"Spanish with my girlfriend," Santana said causing Brittany to smile.

**Sorry for the long wait in an update but I've had a writer's block on this story. Any ideas for the next chapter at all? **


	14. Sweet Sixteen

**Hey guys, time skips a bit in this chapter. They're now sixteen. **

Chapter Fourteen: Sweet Sixteen

Santana and Brittany had been dating for a while now and yesterday, it had been Santana's sixteenth birthday. She was sat on the small bridge at the lake with her legs dangling over the edge. Every now and then, she picked up a rock and threw it hard into the water.

"Hey," Brittany whispered and sat down beside her, dangling her legs over the edge as well. "I want to ask you something."

"Ask me something then," Santana whispered back.

"We're sixteen now," Brittany pointed out. "I was thinking that maybe it...it's the time for...for sex."

"So..." Santana glanced at her watch. "Four o'clock in the evening is the sex time."

"What do you mean?" Brittany asked, confused.

"You said that you think now is the time for sex," Santana told her, "And it's four o'clock in the evening."

"That's not exactly what I meant," Brittany laughed.

"Then what did you mean?"

"If you're ready for it, any time's good," she rephrased and shrugged her shoulders. "I just thought, we're sixteen now and we're not getting any younger."

"Course we're not," Santana giggled, "We can only get older, we're like trees." Santana glanced up at a tall tree that was standing opposite her. "Oak trees of course," Santana added and turned back to Brittany. "What if I'm not ready yet?"

"That's fine," Brittany reassured her. "We don't have to go into anything straight away. Are you hungry?" Santana shook her head, "I am, can we go and get some ice cream?" Santana hesitated and didn't answer so Brittany took her hand and pulled her up with her. There was a small little corner store over the other side that sold ice creams. Santana didn't have anything but Brittany ordered a 99. "Do you want some?" she asked as they sat on a step outside, looking across at the lake. Santana shook her head, "It's lovely here."

"I used to come a lot when I was little," Santana told her. "Then Vicita was born and we hardly ever came."

"Can I ask you a question?"

"You mean another question?" Santana asked, "You already asked me one."

"Yeah, another question," Brittany nodded. "Do you get quite jealous of Vicita? I mean, it's completely natural. She's eight now right?" Santana nodded. "She's eight, she doesn't talk much and she gets lots of attention." Santana shrugged and started scratching at her arm, "Don't do that," Brittany grabbed her hand and pulled it away from her arm. "You'll hurt yourself; I hate it when you scratch."

"From Jared, she does," Santana said. "He likes her more than me, no one likes me."

"That isn't true," Brittany whispered, "I like you, Quinn likes you, your mom likes you, Mr Schue likes you, the rest of the glee club like you."

"You're my girlfriend," Santana said quietly, "You're meant to like me. Is this weekend alright?"

"For what?" Brittany asked, shooting her a confused look.

"For sex?" Santana asked, "I'm being left alone for the first time on Saturday. Mom has to take Vicita to the doctor's and Jared is going with them. She trusts me to be alone so you can come over and we can do it!"

"Don't say that out loud," Brittany clamped a hand over Santana's mouth and laughed. "Are you sure that you're ready sweetie? I don't want to push you into anything you're not ready for."

"I'm ready," Santana nodded. "I googled it."

"You googled what?" Brittany asked.

"Sex," Santana beamed proudly. "There were pictures and..."

"Okaaaay!" Brittany stopped her mid-sentence. "I'm going to stop you there," she laughed. "This Saturday then? I'll be over at seven," Santana nodded with a smile. "Great, I'll see you then."

* * *

Brittany followed Santana into her bedroom and saw it completely tidy. She sat down on the edge of the bed as Santana locked her bedroom door shut. She picked up one of her cuddly teddy bears and stroked Brittany's nose with its paw.

"I should put Bobby away," Santana said, "People say sex is gross; he might not want to watch." She walked over and shut Bobby the teddy bear in a bedside drawer. "How we do we start?"

"You're the one who looked it up on the internet," Brittany laughed. "How do you think?"

"I know it starts with kissing," Santana said and stroked her duvet. "Then we have to get naked; I think." Brittany smiled and leaned in to kiss Santana. She rolled her tongue along the inside of her mouth and smiled. She couldn't believe that this was finally happening.

"You're a really good kisser," Brittany smiled as the two of them lie down on the bed beside each other, Brittany rubbing her hand up and down Santana's arm. "Can I...Can I take your shirt off?" Santana looked at her girlfriend and faintly nodded her head. Brittany slowly lifted Santana's shirt over her head and tossed it over to the other side of the room. "You can take mine off now if you'd like." Santana smiled as she began to unbutton Brittany's t-shirt, sliding it off of her shoulders. "You look beautiful."

"You look beautiful," Santana repeated, her eyes fixed to Brittany's breasts. She reached behind Brittany's back and unclipped her bra, allowing it to fall off her. Brittany did the same to Santana, leaving them both in just their pants. Santana lie on top of Brittany and began to kiss along her neck as she undressed the rest of her.

"Are you okay?" Brittany asked as soon as they were both undressed. Santana nodded, "This is great," Brittany smiled and stroked at her hair before kissing her again. "Harder." Santana nodded and rolled onto her back so Brittany was on top of her.

"Brittany," Santana whispered. "I...I love you so much."

**Yay fluffy, smutty sort of chapter. Hope you liked it. Let me know what you think and I'll update. **


	15. Passing Out

Chapter Fifteen: Passing Out

Brittany was sat on the couch watching one of her old childhood DVD's whilst making her way through a big bowl of popcorn, when her mom walked in and held out the phone to her.

"Who is it?" Brittany asked, hoping that it was Santana.

"It's Quinn," her mom whispered to her. Brittany nodded and took the phone, pressing it to her ear.

"Hi Quinn," she said with a mouthful of popcorn. "What's up?"

"Are you at home?" Quinn asked but before she could give time for Brittany to continue, "Can you come to the hospital?"

"Why?" Brittany asked, fearing the worst.

"Santana passed out," Quinn sniffed. "I'm at the hospital with her and her mom's here too but I think you should come over anyway." Brittany couldn't actually speak but she hung up the phone and put down the popcorn.

"Mom!" Brittany yelled, "I'm going to the hospital. Santana's fainted and she..."

"Is she okay?" Linda could tell that her daughter looked close to tears, "Come on sweetie, I'll drive you." Brittany thanked her mom as they left the house and got into the car. "What did Quinn say?"

"She just said that Santana had passed out and is in the hospital," Brittany sobbed, "I swear if anything happens to her, I'll..."

"She'll be okay," Linda reassured her, "Santana's strong, isn't she?"

"Yeah," the blonde nodded, "she is."

When Brittany arrived at the hospital, she raced straight through the doors and into the waiting room. Quinn was sat in a chair reading a magazine and she ran over as soon as she saw Brittany.

"How is she?" Brittany panicked. "Is she okay?"

"She's fine, she's awake," Quinn nodded at her, "But um...the...the doctor doesn't think she's been eating. She was apparently really skinny when he weighed her and she did admit to missing a few meals."

"Why wouldn't she eat?" Brittany asked and shook her head.

"Well she has had some problems," Quinn pointed out, "With her autism and stuff. I know it's dangerous but I can see and understand why she was starving herself."

"She's got me though," Brittany whispered, "And you too. Is her mom here?" Quinn nodded. "What about Vicita?" Quinn laughed and gestured towards Santana's sister who was sitting on the floor playing with Legos. "You're looking after her?"

"Her mom told me too," Quinn smiled, "Besides I don't mind; she knows me well so she's normally on her best behaviour."

"Can we see San?" Brittany asked and Quinn nodded, "Are you coming?"

"I've seen her, besides I have Vicita. Just go on through," Quinn told her. Brittany nodded and followed Quinn's instructions towards the room, soon finding it. Santana was sitting in bed nodding her head as Aletta sat in a chair talking to her.

"Brittany," Santana beamed when she saw her girlfriend walk in.

"Hey," Brittany smiled and held her arms out. Santana nodded and Brittany walked over and gave her a tight hug. "Quinn told me what happened babe," Brittany stroked at her hair, "Why haven't you been eating?"

"Because she's a silly girl," Aletta tickled her daughter under the chin. "I need to go and check on Vicita, will you be okay?" she asked Brittany. Brittany nodded and the woman left the room.

"Did Quinn call you?" Santana asked and Brittany nodded, "She didn't have to, you have really big bags under your eyes."

"Just tired," Brittany laughed. "Why haven't you been eating? Brittany asked.

"My mom told you, because I'm a silly girl."

"That was just a joke," Brittany laughed again and sat on the edge of Santana's bed. "Do you get that upset? You should see someone about that Santana, I know it's hard but you can't just stop eating."

"I can, I have done," Santana pointed out to her.

"But it's dangerous. Did you know that you can die?" Santana was silent, "Think about it," Brittany whispered, trying to explain it in a way that Santana would understand. "Trees, they need water and soil don't they? That is their food basically," Santana nodded, beginning to listen. "Like pizza, fries and stuff like that is our food. If trees don't get their water and soil then what happens to them?"

"They don't grow properly," Santana said.

"And?"

"They die," Santana continued.

"Correct, so what happens if you don't eat all of that nice food like pizza and stuff?"

"I die," Santana said in a quiet voice and Brittany nodded. "We're like trees then, me and you."

"And everyone else, we all need food or we'll die. Of course, it happens to trees much quicker. It'll probably take like a number of months or even years of not eating before...before something happens."

"I...I don't want to die," Santana said, "I didn't eat because I...I was fed up, everyone picks on me."

"That's not true."

"It is," Santana nodded, "I hate it," she began crying, "just because I'm different."

"But guess what?" Brittany asked and gently took Santana's hand in hers, "That is the best thing about you."

**This story will be finishing soon by the way guys, it's been great writing it though. Hope you liked this chapter. **


	16. Graduation

Chapter Sixteen: Graduation 

Two Years Later:

"Graduation already, can you believe it?" Brittany asked as she straightened her hat. Quinn nodded as she stood beside her friend. They both jumped when they suddenly heard a loud scream coming from outside the bathroom. "Was that Santana?" Brittany asked and Quinn nodded. Miss Pillsbury then walked in with Santana who still wasn't in her gown and hat. "Sannie, you're not in your graduation stuff," Brittany smiled.

"She won't wear it," Miss Pillsbury shook her head, "Her mom said that apparently, she's been refusing all morning."

"I'm meant to be in math class!" Santana yelled, "I always wear this too," she tugged at her cheerleading shirt.

"Sweetie, it's graduation today," Quinn told her. "We're graduating, are you going to put your uniform on?" Santana shook her head, screaming again.

"Don't treat her like a child Quinn," Brittany said, "San look, me and Quinn are wearing it. We all look pretty stupid but that's the fun of it."

"I'll take care of her Miss Pillsbury," Quinn said and led Santana out of the bathroom, Brittany following. "San, come on."

"Look, it's just one day honey," Brittany said, "Remember how Mr Schue and Paula talked about going to college, you have passed all your exams which means that you're graduating with us."

"I don't want to graduate! I want to stay at McKinley!" Santana screamed in tears and shoved Quinn.

"Hey!" Paula yelled as she came over and grabbed hold of Santana, "What do you think you're doing?"

"She doesn't want to graduate," Quinn informed her, "She said she wants to stay at McKinley and she doesn't want to wear the uniform."

"Santana, you have to," Paula told her, "Aren't you pleased that you're graduating with your friends, yeah?" Santana shook her head. "Come on, just put the gown on."

"No!"

"What about just the hat then?" Quinn suggested but Santana shook her head, still crying hysterically.

"I have an idea," Brittany smiled, "Santana, put the hat on and your gown but over your cheerleading uniform yeah? That way you're still wearing your Cheerio's uniform, what do you say?"

"But what about math class?" Santana sniffled.

"There's nothing that we can really do about that San," Quinn said, "You do want to graduate, don't you?" Santana shook her head, "Yes you do, I can tell."

"Come on Santana, do what Brittany said," Paula told her, "Wear the hat and then the gown over your Cheerio's uniform, yeah? It doesn't matter if you miss math for just one day, does it? You'll have to stop doing it anyway when you go to college."

"What if I don't want to go to college?" Santana asked.

"You may not want to now but you'd like it when you're there," Paula said, "Yeah?" Santana nodded, "Good girl, how about Brittany and Quinn go onto stage with you alright?"

"Just Brittany," Santana managed.

"Just Brittany?" Quinn asked, "Well thanks," she added all sarcastically and walked off. Brittany held her arms out to Santana who gave her a hug, not realising that she'd upset Quinn.

* * *

"Don't you want Quinn to come up with you as well?" Brittany asked as she placed the red hat on Santana's head. "She'd like that, you know?" Santana shrugged her shoulders.

"Did I upset her?" Santana whispered. "I...I didn't mean to, I'm sorry."

"Hey it's not your fault," Brittany said. "How about Quinn coming on stage with us though, huh? I think she'd like that." Santana hesitated but nodded. "Great, come on." Brittany took Santana's hand in hers as they headed towards the auditorium. Quinn was already there. "Quinn, Santana has something that she wants to say," Brittany told her.

"I want you and Brittany to go on stage with me," Santana said and hung her head. Quinn smiled and pulled the girl in for a hug, "Yay," Santana squealed and hugged Quinn back.

"Come on you," Quinn patted her back as they all lined up. She could sense Santana getting uncomfortable but Brittany had placed an arm round her shoulder for comfort. Santana's name was soon called but she wasn't moving.

"Come on," Brittany took her hand and led her onto the stage, Quinn following. Santana laughed as Miss Pillsbury hugged her and handed her the scroll. "Move your tassle," Brittany whispered in Santana's ear and helped her with it. "There you go, come on." The two girls took Santana over to the rest of the students after collecting their own scroll. "See, this is way better than math huh?" Brittany joked.

"No," Santana shook her head, "But it is fun. Brittany?"

"Yeah gorgeous," Brittany said and kissed her cheek.

"I love you."

"Santana," Brittany giggled, "I love you too."

**The end! I hope you enjoyed the story. **


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